


Shackled

by kkscatnip (autohaptic)



Series: Bonds That Tie [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Age Difference, M/M, Masturbation, Mildly Dubious Consent, POV Third Person Limited, Present Tense, Self-Denial, Soul Bond, Tea, Telepathy, Titled by iTunes, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-24
Updated: 2013-09-24
Packaged: 2017-12-27 12:57:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/979185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autohaptic/pseuds/kkscatnip
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>And deep inside <br/>you will bleed for me</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Push It

It's not like Jason sits around thinking about shit he can do to get under Bruce's skin or anything.

Well, okay, he does, just a little. But that's not all he does. In between Alfred's parade of equivalency tests and other bullshit like that, he's spent the last two and a half days pretty much running around Bruce's property and not having anybody even hint to him that he shouldn't. 

Bruce never does show him the secret to the grandfather clock, so he spends twenty minutes figuring it out for himself, after the first barrage of tests. Of course Bruce doesn't even have the grace to look like his feathers are ruffled when Jason saunters into the Cave, but Jason can feel a strange mix of annoyance and pride that he's pretty sure aren't actually his emotions. It's always easy to tell when Bruce gets worked up, but lower-key things? Sometimes Jason gets confused.

After that, he starts exploring outside. Just--because. He needs to know about the area around him. He needs to feel like he can get away if things go wrong. 

Most of all, he needs to get away from how empty the manor feels when Bruce isn't there.

In the next a day and a half, he finds three alternate Cave entrances. Only one of them actually gets him down there without needing some kind of rigging, and he's not even reasonably sure he can get back out again. If he were taller, maybe, but definitely not as he is.

Jason also figures out about six ways that he can get off of the property without being caught on too many cameras outside of the manor itself. He doesn't look for them his first trip out, but after he gets into the cave and finds Bruce watching him approach via various camera angles? He looks for them. And is fairly sure that he finds _most_ of them. 

It gets monotonous, though, by the time it's dark and Jason's sitting alone by himself in one of the smaller dining rooms, listening to Alfred tell Jason about how he's sure that Master Bruce will be able to join him tomorrow, but he's currently preparing for a major shareholder meeting in two weeks.

Mostly it sounds like bullshit to Jason, but he figures out on the second day that maybe the bond controls his mind a little more than he strictly wants it to when he walks past Bruce's room and it smells like him and Jason can't stop himself from going inside. 

Bruce's robes hang right where they should. He wore the obnoxiously short lime green one this morning; Jason goes over to it and buries his face in the soft folds and just inhales as deeply as he can. 

The arousal is like a gut punch, takes his breath away and makes his mind just. Stutter to a halt. 

Getting down onto the floor--his knees are far too weak to support him, and dizzy doesn't quite cover where his head is--and pulling Bruce's robe over his face as he shoves a hand down his sweat pants. He's already hard, already straining and so slick that his fingers slip at first and he ends up making high, needy, and frustrated noises until he gets a good grip on his dick. 

Ah, God, it feels amazing, Bruce's scent all around him and the weight of the robe on his shoulders and--everything. Jason comes embarrassingly fast, but he can feel Bruce's regard, feel the weight of it and that secondhand arousal and the denial. The denial hurts, Jason's not gonna even try to pretend it doesn't, but the fact that Bruce has trouble with the denial at first? That feels like every hug Jason's ever gotten times a thousand. 

* 

The other thing Jason does is take showers. Romping around what Alfred calls "the grounds"--just a fancy way to say 'a bunch of woods', as far as Jason can tell--makes Jason sweaty and muddy, and the shower in Jason's room? It makes getting dirty that much better. 

His first shower is like, an hour long. He locks the bathroom door but not the bedroom door and climbs in and there's two shower heads on each of the three tiled walls, plus a detachable shower head that lets Jason get cleaner than he's ever been before, which is fucking amazing. 

Part of Jason wants to thank Bruce for the shower, but he knows, _knows_ if he does that it'll give away so many things that he doesn't want Bruce to have confirmation about. It's one thing for Bruce to suspect, but somebody like him? They won't know until Jason tells them, and Jason sure as shit ain't gonna do that. Ever.

*

Bruce is home, but he's down in the cave, and Jason can feel the buzz of his nervousness like a bunch of wasps flying around his head, stinging every so often. He's pretty fucking sure that Bruce and Alfred are talking about him--he's gotta be talking with Alfie, there's really nobody else it makes sense for him to be talking to at three on a Wednesday afternoon--and the little stings are distracting. 

Not that Jason minds being distracted from the stupid homework assignments that the tutor who came this morning gave him, _but_. If they're talking about him, he wants to be there. 

He won't be able to, though. As soon as he shows up, they'll find some reason to go do something else, and he'll be high and dry again, and why can't he just have like, stayed a normal person and not bonded some perverted middle-aged vigilante?

Except he's Batman, which makes him _the_ perverted middle-aged vigilante, Jason supposes.

Urgh, whatever, his head hurts, and now that he was thinking about Bruce, his dick is hard. Unavoidable side effect; it happens every time. Every. single. time. 

And Bruce has to try so hard to block Jason off when Jason masturbates that sometimes it makes it worth it. He holds that thought as he strips and heads toward the shower, turning the water on hot, hot, hot. 

(He'll probably never get over how amazing it is that he can just turn a knob in a nice, clean, huge shower and this luxurious hot water pours out and--he _loves_ hot showers, in that deep, abiding way that he _loves_ the taste of Alfred's cooking.)

The scorch of the hot water against Jason's back and arms only makes his dick jump, makes it perk up even more, makes it dribble a little precome, because if all he needs to do is think about Bruce and stand under hot water for this? He can't imagine what it'll be like when they actually get down to it. 

Probably he'll come right away. He only started actually shooting come a couple months ago, and he's still--sometimes it's not difficult to get off. 

But today there's the wasps in his head, and they prickle at his skin unpleasantly, even as he slides one hand down his stomach and wraps it around his dick. It feels amazing, and he can't stop himself from gasping Bruce's name. 

For bare seconds, the wasps are gone and Bruce's regard is heavy in his head, Bruce's sudden arousal. Sudden everything. It makes Jason groan happily and grip himself harder than he should, satisfaction almost as good as Bruce actually paying attention. 

But then Bruce feels guilty and the wasps are back. Jason leans back against the wall, then flips around, reaching up to adjust the shower head to pour down directly on him. God, it feels amazing, and maybe Jason will get callouses on his dick from all the masturbating he's doing, but he kind of doubts it. 

Ignoring the wasps is harder than Jason wants it to be, and it takes a minute or so of nothing but water and his hand on his dick to get to where he doesn't feel their constant stings. "Bruce," Jason pants, desperate in a way he really didn't want to be. 

Bruce's attention is there again, washing over Jason's senses and making him arch his hips into his hand, back bending against the wall. 

Then the wasps are back, angrier than ever.

He needs--he wants to feel Bruce inside of him, wants that connection, that... just Bruce inside of him, buried deep. Pinning Jason against the wall? Alfred kind of supplied the shower with one of those squirt-top bottles full of lube, on Jason's second day. He'd been embarrassed, but not upset, because. He couldn't deny--didn't want to deny. 

Fuck, sometimes it felt like Jason practically lived for the feeling of sliding two fingers into himself. For the slight stretch and the awkward angle and the way it makes it so easy to lean hard against the warm tile and pretend it's Bruce. Pressing him there, fingering him. Knowing exactly what Jason needs, and exactly how to give it. 

"Bruce." It comes out a high whine. "Fuck, Bruce, I need you inside of me so fucking--so-- _bad_." 

There's a flicker of Bruce's attention, warm and amazing, and then gone, more wasps. Jason whimpers at it, whimpers and almost sobs. But he doesn't stop jacking himself off, doesn't stop fingering. Can't. 

"Bru-uu-ccce," Jason draws out his name without meaning to, broken by sobs, throat beginning to feel raw. "Oh fuck, please!" And he can feel Bruce, feel him unable to block Jason, unable to completely disconnect himself. Jason holds onto that thread as hard as he can.

It's building so fast, that tight coil. "Fuck, fuck." And Jason is just--off rhythm, but it doesn't fucking matter. Nothing fucking matters but knowing that Bruce is aroused, knowing that Bruce is paying attention. He screams when he comes, and the sound echoes, and in the space between the echoes, the wasps come back. 

Jason sags against the tiles in the aftermath, pulls his fingers out of himself slowly and holds them under the spray. Still just as hot as before.

He took a two hour shower, once, and the water temperature didn't waver at all. Another ten minutes will be just fine. He soaps himself up, and when the wasps go away again and it's just Bruce, Jason smiles, lifting his head.

Bruce is just a tease, though. He's gone, and the wasps are back, but this time they're not quite so bad. They're still wasps, though. Still stinging him where there should only be warmth and goodness from the bond.

One day Jason is going to kill every goddamn one of those goddamn wasps.


	2. In the Morning

"Master Bruce?" Alfred asks, his tone implying that Bruce's attention is wandering.

It is. Bruce has already distanced himself from Jason's moment-to-moment feelings and actions, but there are some which are more difficult to ignore. Masturbation in and of itself is not difficult to ignore, but Jason just gasped Bruce's name, and the sound of it pulls at Bruce's core. 

Not to mention that the small spike of Jason's satisfaction at having distracted Bruce is far more appealing than is safe. 

This bond with Jason jeopardizes far too many things. Bruce pushes Jason's consciousness away, into the niche where it belongs, and refocuses on Alfred. "I apologize, old friend. It seems Jason is learning to pinpoint the actions which the bond demands I not ignore." 

The way Alfred presses his lips together for a moment mirrors the regret in Bruce's soul for the fact that he's now subjecting a twelve year old boy to a bond which he cannot possibly be in any way _ready_ for. Alfred just nods, though. "Have you informed Master Dick of your new ward?" 

Bruce shakes his head. He wishes he could call it protection, keeping Dick's hopes alive, but in truth it is raw cowardice which has prevented him from telling Dick. 

Alfred's gaze is merciless, as Bruce should be with himself. "When will you tell him?" 

"Soon. I will tell him soon." He must; if Dick finds out on his own, things will be nastier, given the way Dick has sought to be soul bonded to Bruce since he was only a couple years older than Jason. 

Though bonds are largely considered superstition, like ghosts, Bruce never questioned Dick's desire to be bonded, as his parents had been. He pored through books, read all of the first-hand information that he could, and discovered that they typically happen upon a combination of the first skin-on-skin touch and some other sense. Bruce has only ever read about vision, though he's long suspected that if someone's primary sense were something other than vision, it could work that way.

Which meant that Bruce bonding with Dick was and is highly unlikely. It is possible--Bruce is learning to believe that nothing he can imagine is truly impossible, whether it's magic or technology--but not probable.

Especially with Jason now bonded to him. 

_"Bruce," Jason pants against his arm and buries his face there for a moment, hand speeding on his cock, water running down his body._

Grinding his teeth would serve no purpose. Bruce merely claps his hands together instead, focusing on the feel of his muscles clenching, of flesh squeezing flesh, the hard quality of muscle and tendon straining under his fingertips. 

Jason's showering. He does it often, for his current purpose and, Bruce is fairly positive, because being clean and hot water are welcome novelties for him. 

But now Bruce cannot see, hear, or feel Jason, except as a pulsing heat in that same niche in Bruce's mind. Excellent. 

"I regret the circumstances of--" 

"I wouldn't, sir," Alfred says, short and simple. The only kind of reproof Bruce has ever needed. "Regret will only hurt him." 

Bruce dips his head in acknowledgment. It's clear what Alfred isn't saying: that if Bruce insists on continuing in the vein he started, it will hurt Jason even more than that. But Bruce has a plan, and the only reason he has yet to implement it is that he's unsure of his ability to maintain control over himself. "I think he'll jump at the chance to fight beside me." 

Alfred doesn't say anything, merely giving Bruce a look that is perfectly polite, perfectly blank. He's thinking and feeling things that he knows are best left unexpressed. 

Putting his nose where it doesn't belong is one of Bruce's time-honored traditions. "You don't?" 

"I think," Alfred says, standing and collecting himself and the tea set, "that it will be far more difficult than you imagine to distract him." 

_"Bruce," Jason whines, high and needy, and heat curls in his belly, driven by his hand masturbating himself in an uneven rhythm and the mental image of Bruce behind him, pressing Jason to the tile wall. Two fingers inside of him, working, as Jason fingers himself as well. The rhythm of his fingers is much more even. "Fuck, Bruce, I--need you ins--"_

Shutting down the connection at this moment is more painful than Bruce thought it would be. Jason _is_ learning, and dangerously fast; he needs a new target to set his sights on. 

Alfred's expression means that he didn't miss the way Bruce lost himself for a moment. 

Bruce closes his eyes, sighs. Opens them again. He isn't imagining it will be all that easy to distract Jason, honestly. He merely knows that Jason is a boy with an overactive mind who's never had anything to apply it to beyond keeping himself alive, and he would very much like to give Jason the chance for something more. 

"I would be--" _"Bru-uu-ccce"_ "--honored if--" _"Oh fuck"_ "--you would consent--" _"Please"_ "--to begin showing--" _"fuck, fuck"_ "--him the basics." _Jason finishes with a scream, which echoes slightly off of the tiles._ Bruce does not reach down to adjust himself, pays no attention at all to the ache in his scrotum. 

"Beginning this afternoon, sir?" Alfred knows Bruce has planned to be home this afternoon, training himself. It's a change from yesterday; he spent all of yesterday at WE and half of the night at a party, maintaining his reputation as Bruce Wayne.

"In the morning," Bruce says. "You may tell him and begin training in the morning." 

As Alfred leaves, and now that Jason has finished, Bruce checks in on him. Jason's just soaping himself up, buzzing with pleasure and enjoying the almost scalding heat of the water. 

Jason lifts his head, ready to respond, but Bruce only allows himself a flicker. No more, no less. 

And when Bruce begins training Jason two more days hence, his control will be even better than it is now.


End file.
